Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela to begin 15 February

Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela (book fair) is set to begin on 15 February, cultural affairs ministry’s senior information officer Faysal Hasan told Prothom Alo on Thursday.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the book fair virtually, he added.

However, no date has been fixed for the conclusion of the fair as yet , Foysal said.

The ministry Thursday sent a letter to Bangla Academy about the inauguration of the book fair.

The book fair usually begins on the very first day of February every year. But the fair could not be start due to the ongoing situation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, on 16 January, the cultural affairs ministry postponed this year’s Amar Ekushey book fair for two weeks due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths across the country.

Last year, the traditional month-long fair was also postponed to avoid the spread of coronavirus infections. The fair finally began on 18 March at the Bangla Academy premises and the adjacent venue in the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan.

The fair concluded on 12 April, two days before the country went into a hard lockdown from 14 April to curb the surge of the Delta variant of Covid-19. The fair lacked it usual momentum, with publishers and sellers suffering a significant amount of losses in their business.